The field of the invention is radiation detectors and, more particularly, solid state x-ray detectors used singly or in arrays.
X-ray flux density is usually measured in one of two ways. First, a scintillation element may be used to convert the impinging x-rays into a luminescent intensity which is detected by a separate photomultiplier tube or a silicon photosensitive device. Such detectors are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,092. Or second, photovoltaic or photoconductive solid state diodes that are directly sensitive to impinging x-rays may be used to produce electric currents. Such x-ray detectors are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,885,562; 3,598,997; 3,329,815; 4,926,052; and 5,103,100. Such x-ray detectors may be used singly, or they may be combined to form arrays of detectors.
In some applications, it is desirable to polarize the x-rays that impinge on the x-ray detector. One such application is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,227,082, where a separate polarizer element is mounted in front of the x-ray detector. This approach can become awkward and expensive in some applications where polarized x-rays are required. For example, when an array of x-ray detectors are employed the use of separate polarizer elements is complex. Or, when the polarizer is to be rotated to observe the polarization characteristics of an x-ray source, the resulting structure is awkward and expensive.